By Ata Ufuk Seker
BRUSSELS (AA) - Temporary border controls set up inside the passport-free Schengen zone to cope with the refugee crisis should be extended beyond Nov. 15, the European Commission said Tuesday.
The EU executive branch proposed that controls in Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and non-EU member Norway should continue for a further three months.
“Despite the progressive stabilization of the situation, the commission considers that the conditions… allowing for a return to a normally functioning Schengen area are not yet fully fulfilled,” the commission said in a statement.
In May, border checks were re-imposed at some frontiers within the Schengen area to stem the movement of migrants heading through Europe after mostly arriving in Greece. Arrivals fell dramatically following the implementation of an EU-Turkey deal to halt the refugee boats crossing the Aegean Sea.
“Over the past months we have taken important steps to address deficiencies at our external borders,” EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said.
He added that the recommendation was for a “strictly limited period of time” while the EU worked to “address all current migratory and security challenges so we can lift all internal border controls as soon as possible.”